I once interviewed Tupac Shakur. It went better than I had expected, mostly because he graciously spared me the whole Thug Life gangsta’ persona B.S. and just talked to me. I was convinced that he was going to make the seamless transition from rap icon to movie star. He had only made a few movies at that time, but he had such screen presence. When he was in a scene, you couldn’t keep your eyes off him.

Another reason that I thought said transition was imminent was that I felt certain that rap music had pretty much run its course. It had gone from playful (“Rapper’s Delight”) to rhythmic (“Walk This Way”) to sexist (“Baby Got Back”) to political (“Fight The Power”) to violent (“F— Tha Police”) and, to me, anyway, it seemed as though (like disco and punk before it) there was no place else for it to go. I even wove my contention into the story. However, before it could run, Tupac was shot in Las Vegas and he died a week later.

Looking back, my silly contention couldn’t have been more wrong. Nearly 20 years later, hip-hop is still a force in the music industry. Kendrick Lamar just released an album on which he has a 12-minute “conversation” with Tupac. And the No. 1 album in the country this week is the soundtrack from the hip-hop-based prime-time soap opera, “Empire.”

When the article didn’t run, I guess you could say (in the poorest of taste) that I had dodged a bullet. (Not unlike rap mogul Suge Knight, who was seated right next to Shakur in the car when the fatal bullets were fired. Shakur took five in the torso while the 800-lb. Knight waddled away without a scratch.) The Las Vegas police found that to be only mildly suspicious.

I suppose that I could have kept all that to myself and saved myself the minor embarrassment. But I’m glad I didn’t. Recognizing and admitting that you’re wrong can be cathartic and even uplifting.

Just think how wonderful it would be if our “leaders” or our pundits or even one person on Fox News were adult enough to admit that they had gotten something wrong. How refreshing would it be to hear, “Hey, I really messed that up. I’ll try to do better next time.” Unfortunately, we have such a toxic political environment that admitting to having made a mistake would be seen as a sign of weakness. All too often, an honest mistake is followed by hedging, then fudging, and finally by outright lying.

Only one of two things can happen after that. Either the lies are told so often and so convincingly that the truth is degraded and perhaps even destroyed. Or the people who got it wrong man up, admit their mistake, and move forward.

Here are a few whoppers that have been around for far too long. (Feel free to unburden yourself if you ever bought into any of this nonsense.)

•The low interest rates imposed by the Fed will lead to hyper-inflation. Remember that one? Sean Hannity and all the Fox Fakes shouted that for years, but, as it turns out, the Fed’s policy has helped lead to record high levels for the stock market, sustained growth over a very long period, a huge drop in the unemployment rate, and monster job growth that points to a roaring economy. Seriously, do you hear anything coming from the Right these days about the economy?

What’s really funny in an evil way is that the sweethearts of the Right—the banks and the big corporations–have been sitting on so much of their huge profits generated during the recovery that the Fed’s low-interest policy has almost led to deflation. A lot of people were super-wrong on that one.

•Obamacare will send health-care costs through the roof. According to USA Today, while health-care costs continue to rise, they are doing so at a historically low rate. After decades in which not only the cost of health care rose but also the rate at which the growth occurred accelerated, it has begun to slow down. Just about nobody saw it coming and the doomsayers still won’t acknowledge that it’s here.

•Charter schools will outstrip public schools within five years. Some Arizona legislators said that back when they were pushing for their pet project. It’s been 20 years and the outstripping has yet to materialize.

•Nobody will sign up for Obamacare. The percentage of Americans who are uninsured is at the lowest rate IN HISTORY! And it continues to drop. There are some truly twisted people out there who still believe that America should not take care of its own, but after a stumbling start, Obamacare is a raging success and a truly great program that makes our country a better place. Obamacare is saving the lives of real people and absolutely killing Republican politicians.

•Lowering taxes will actually generate more tax revenue. This is the paisley of bad political ideas. It keeps coming back every few years and every time it does, it always sucks. It didn’t work for Ronald Reagan. It didn’t work for Newt Gingrich. It has been an absolute disaster for Kansas Governor San Brownback and it damn sure isn’t going to work for Doug Ducey.

Do you think he’ll ever admit it?

This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2015.

14 replies on “Danehy”

  1. “When he was in a scene, you couldn’t keep your eyes off him.”

    Maybe you couldn’t Tom, but I had no trouble keeping my eyes off him.

  2. Tom you are wrong again. What a surprise. ” Roaring economy” We are looking at a number under 2 per cent tomorrow Tom. Thank God for Fox News or all we would have is lefty lies from your folks.
    Your huge drop in unemployment ( over 6 years ) is due to people dropping out of the job market and many working part time. More than 90 million folks totally capable of working are sitting on their asses watching Maury re-runs. I thought your minimum wage hikes would cure all that.
    The results of the Fed keeping rates artificially low have not hit yet. We will see what uncontrolled money printing gives us, and it may not be pretty.
    When it does hit you will obviously deny it and slant the truth like you constantly do.
    Hopefully The Supreme Court will take care of Obama care shortly.
    Go back to MSNBC now or play some more Tupac tunes.

  3. Tom, you really blew it this time. Your ‘lies’ are all ‘predictions’. A prediction is neither true nor false; it is just a guess. It may be wrong, but it is not a ‘lie’. A lie is saying something you know is false (like, ‘you can keep your doctor or your health plan’, etc.). The biggest lie now prevailing in the world is ‘It has been proven conclusively that humans cause climate change.’ That is being said by people who know better – who know that it is a theory, not a fact; people who would sneer at anyone else who mistook association with causation.

  4. The comments so far have been by people who follow the Bill “Pinhead” O’Reilly method of dislocated logic. Uphill climb Tom, but I’m with you!

  5. You wouldn’t recognize any method of logic even if it bit you in the ass.
    I prefer Bill O’Reilly to your Rachel Maddow, Al Sharpton and other assorted whiners.
    Tupac is now No Pac and nobody cares.

  7. vince…why of course you do (prefer) . It;s the built in right wing prejudice against thinking for yourself.

  8. I hate to argue with someone who’s picture is Groucho as Prof. Wagstaff from Horsefeathers, but I’m afraid I must. Why do all liberals think those of us on the right can’t think for ourselves. Right up there with blood for oil, the war on woman, big pharma, etc,etc.
    Tom is so concerned with facts accept when they prove him wrong. A while back Pulitzer Tommy wrote he was still waiting for one example of a woman using a gun to prevent rape. Within the hour I did. To this day he refuses to acknowledge it.
    Obummercare is good. Than why has the hump in charge changed mandates over and over again. Only this guy can change a law with a wave of his magic wand. Thousands losing their coverage or having the cost triple. Bad news, Tommy. Nothing is free. Someone has to pay for this boondoggle. And we still haven’t felt the full effects. But the U.S.A. Today says it’s good. That proves alot.
    As far as the rest of your dribble your dribble, Tommy. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

  9. CW13

    You have a pic of a dog wearing a shirt, and you dis on Groucho ?

    Proof right wingers can’t think.

  10. Wrong agan, Asshole.. I love the Marx Brothers. I have every movie they ever made and I’ve seen all of them a million times. My point was that even though I admire his taste in comedy I still had to go after him for his left wing nonsense. Quick question, were you always this much of an idiot or did you hit your empty head or something. Oh, and thats my dog and that’s not a shirt it’s a N.Y. Rangers hockey jersey.

  11. Hmmm, Do you actually understand what a cliché is Bob Z?
    Fox News and Rush are always your Bogeymen. We on the right have no original thoughts eh?
    Do you get all your opinions from Danehy, Fitz and NPR.?
    Maybe Fox news is a secret pleasure of yours.
    I don’t think that I used any clichés. Unless ( bit you in the ass) came from Fox news.
    Do you know that there is no semicolon in the word “it’s” Bob?
    Are you another TUSD product Bob?

  12. Regarding the comment on the unemployment rate, it is true that the labor participation rate has dropped since 2007, from about 66% to about 63%. However, most of this drop in labor force has been due to exits from retirement and disability, and not discouraged workers. http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2013/12/on-th…

    Accounting for only discouraged workers, we would see about a 1% increase in unemployment rate holding labor participation constant from 2007. So, this is a bump from about 6% to 7%, which is not nothing, but also not the 10% or so that Fox News would have you believe.

  14. Tom, it is easy for the right to continue to diss Obamacare, because the cost of healthcare (and, therefore, the cost of health insurance) has continued to rise. Of course, you’re completely correct about the rate at which it is rising coming down, and this is clearly due to Obamacare – everyone who is serious about the subject agrees on this. However, when it comes to right-wingers whose money comes from the moneyed, and who know that they are talking to voters who neither know nor care much about politics, all they need to say is “the cost of healthcare rose [fill in percentage] since Obamacare went into effect!”, and many of those who are half-listening will conclude that (a) what is happening is bad, and (b) it is due to Obamacare.

    This is why this trend will continue.

    As for The Vince of Darkness’ comment “The results of the Fed keeping rates artificially low have not hit yet”, that is just too funny for words. It is amazing that people don’t even read what they say before they post it.

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